Emeli Sande and Ben Howard dominate Brits

No strop from Adele this year, even if host James Corden was as irritating as ever. The Brits passed off without any controversies to grab the headlines, although the awards themselves were marginally more interesting than in previous years.

2012 was the year when it was impossible to escape Emeli Sande. Everything from the Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies to the Sports Personality of the Year was soundtracked by her mellifluous, undemanding voice crooning some vague anthem. The 2013 Brits duly anointed her as Britain’s favourite go-to option for mainstream coffee-table music, bestowing awards for Best Female Artist and Best Album. "I’m a very unlikely pop star," she claimed. "I wrote this album because I didn’t have the confidence to say these things as a person. I thank everybody who bought this album and made me feel part of something much bigger. This is a dream, I’m so grateful."

Grateful and polite, Sande was the perfect Brits winner and emerged happiest from the night, closely followed by West Country folk singer Ben Howard who won in the Best Male Solo Act and Best Breakthrough Act categories. "That’s bizarre, isn’t it?" Howard said, accurately. "Coming away with two of these things is amazing. I’m really bad at speeches." Not wrong there Ben.

The success of these relatively fresh names did not quite disguise the Brits’ tendency to reward artists who make the export figures look good. Prizes for services to the industry went to David Cameron’s beloved Mumford and Sons as Best Group, Adele for Best Single, One Direction for selling lots of records overseas and Coldplay for, laughably, Best Live Act.

Frank Ocean won best International Male Solo Artist and seemed thoroughly impressed. "Before this year I didn’t get many trophies in my life," he said. "It’s a big leap from serving fast food in New Orleans."